Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Focused on a Cure: Piggin' Out for Pink [08.06.10]

WOW! We plan and stress for so long and then Piggin' Out for Pink flies by before we know it! This year's event was yet another success. The event was held at the Old Cannon Towel Store in Cannon Village (Kannapolis, NC). The building is property of the North Carolina Research Campus and was donated to our local non-profit. (THANK YOU TO NCRC for your generosity!!)

Chelish Moore worked her magic on this building! It went from being an empty retail space with blank walls to a beautiful venue dazzled with pinks. The tables were adorned with black accents, white flowers, pink candles, etc. Two bright white billowing drapes hung in the center of the venue dividing the tables, gathered with pink bows. Job well done, Chelish! We received so many compliments as people entered the doors.

We had a gorgeous old PINK car out front of the venue! Great photo op for our survivors! (Thank you to Linda for letting us show off your fabulous pink car!)

After our delicious dinner by Punchy's Diner, we asked two of our survivors to share their stories with everyone. The first to share was Donna Rowland. She attended last year's Piggin' Our for Pink just days after her mastectomy. She was inspired and this year, she is a part of our exhibit as a proud survivor.

The key to Donna's story is getting mammograms! She mentioned that she almost skipped last year's mammogram, which ended up being the one that they discovered the cancer through. And you're never too old for a mammogram! Since her diagnosis, her mother and aunt (both in their seventies) were diagnosed with breast cancer!

Emily Riera was the other survivor we asked to speak. To hear her story, you realize her mother is a HUGE part of her battle against breast cancer. Therefore, her mother (Mary Anne Freeman) joined her in sharing with us. Mary Anne is a survivor herself and is very active with the American Cancer Society, so to her that her daughter had breast cancer was devastating.

Mary Anne, Emily, and her twin sister used genetic testing to find that they all carry the BRCA-1 gene. They're doing all they can to fight for a cure so that their daughters and granddaughters don't have to go through this.

The remainder of the night we danced and sang along with the Band of Oz! They know how to put on a show and we enjoyed every second of it. Most of the candids have Tara, Renda, or Melonie on a nearby mic singing their hearts out!

We also unveiled the 2010 Focused on a Cure survivor exhibit. We had 15 survivor stories to showcase. The metals are designed to feature one of the survivor's portraits by Irresistible Portraits as well as excerpts from their stories. We wish we had room to share every word of their stories!

The exhibit will travel to different locations, businesses, offices, and hospitals in the area. Stay tuned to the blog to see the upcoming dates and locations.

The exhibit is printed on metal, a product provided by H&H Color Lab. Irresistible Portraits has been a client of theirs for many years. The owners, Shirley and Wayne Haub, are passionate people who believing help causes such as ours. Although the Haubs were unable to attend, they flew Dan and his wife, Toni, all the way from Kansas City to join us! We appreciate your support year after year!

We did it! We pulled it off again! We raised $15,000, our goal for 2010! Does that mean we have to raise $20,000 next year? Guess so!

Now for the fun part - to see all the money raised put to work... to fight the disease! We have received grant applications from some organizations across NC that benefit breast cancer - detection, research, rehabilitation, etc. The grants will be judged by a panel of judges next Monday evening. After then final decisions are made, we'll be happy to announce the outcome! Stay tuned.....

1 comment:

We received a card from Delinda Rodgers the week after Piggin' Out for Pink....

"Wow! I won't miss another Piggin' Out! You sure do know how to throw a party. You have an amazing support system and the work each of you did was evident Friday night. The storyboards, decorations, and the items for sale were amazing. Thanks for all the hard work."